Basic Videos

Patrick Whitefield, author of the Earth Care Manual lets us film his introduction to Permaculture. Patrick talks briefly about the beginnings of Permaculture and looks at why it is now more important than ever to adopt the methods of design.

Geoff Lawton is an internationally – renowned permaculture educator, consultant and practitioner. He emigrated from England to Australia and later studied permaculture with Bill Mollison in Tasmania. He established the Permaculture Research Institute at Tagari Farm in New South Wales, Australia, a 147 acre farmstead previously developed by Mollison. PRI was eventually moved to Zaytuna Farm, in The Channon, where it continues today.

Since 1985, Geoff has designed and implemented permaculture projects in 30 countries for private individuals and groups, communities, governments, aid organizations, & multinational corporations. He has taught the Permaculture Design Certificate course and designed permaculture projects in 30 countries. The Permaculture Research Institute supports the establishments of Permaculture Master Plan sites worldwide as demonstration sites and education centers that network their research information through. www.permacultureglobal.com.

Ryan Harb shares his experience creating the first Public University Permaculture Garden in the nation and explains how we can use permaculture to empower ourselves and make a difference in our community and the world.

Ryan Harb is a certified permaculture designer, community organizer and was the first person in the nation to receive a Master of Science degree in Green Building. In 2010, Harb created a job for himself as Sustainability Manager for UMass Amherst Dining Services. He then began developing one of the first university permaculture gardens in the nation that supplies locally grown produce and hands-on sustainability education to the campus and local community. Within 18 months, “The UMass Permaculture Initiative” went viral and was featured in over 100 media publications including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and on MTV. The project has engaged over 3,500 volunteers and won 8 national awards. In 2012, Harb was invited to the White House to meet and speak alongside President Barack Obama. He was named a “White House Campus Champion of Change”, and UMass Permaculture was voted the top university program in the country that’s changing the world for the better.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

The Permaculture Principles guide our design decisions and formulate the structure of our Permaculture system. We are using David Holmgren’s 12 principle version which are used to help guide every Permaculture design.

A permaculture site is divided into zones. Understanding the five zones allows for a design that considers the most effective placement of components and how they relate to each other. Each zone has a different requirement for maintenance and function. Zones 1 and 2, or areas needing the most attention, are placed closer to the home and heavy traffic areas while zones 3, 4, and 5 radiate out from heavy traffic areas as upkeep needs become less intensive.

Javan Bernakevitch, from British Columbia Permaculture, helps to wrap up Oregon State University’s free Permaculture course (http://open.oregonstate.edu/courses/p…) and he provides some direction about how to take this information and do something useful with it.

Energy systems in a Permaculture design are small scale and decentralized, using renewable sources. This video gives a very brief glance at types of renewable energy systems commonly employed in Permaculture.